Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport exists on borrowed time. Portugal’s current primary airport is scheduled for decommission and will be replaced in the coming years by the new Luís de Camões Airport further from the city.
There are many reasons why this is a good thing. Primarily because it’s one of Europe’s most congested airports facing severe capacity constraints and regularly ranks poorly for customer satisfaction.
It’s also one of the few major airports whose flight path goes directly over the city it serves, creating noise and air pollution for residents. But don’t let that put you off. Lisbon is a fantastic city, Portugal is well worth visiting, and if you know where the hurdles are, you can come prepared.
Getting to and from Lisbon
Humberto Delgado airport is incredibly close to Lisbon – just four miles from the city center, which is useful for commuting but not so great for Lisbon’s residents. That proximity means there are many ways in and out, with most taking around 20-30 minutes and costing comparatively little.
Metro and train
The Aeroporto-Saldanha metro line connects the city center to Terminal 1 in about 20 minutes. As all flights come into Terminal 1, it’s very convenient for arrivals. If you’re departing from Terminal 2, you’ll need to take the shuttle from Terminal 1, which takes about 3 minutes with shuttles running approximately every 12 minutes.
Lisbon’s metro system is great (cheap, clean and convenient). Each station also has its own theme, so it’s a lovely introduction to the city.
For travel beyond Lisbon, the same metro line will take you to Gare do Oriente, the beautiful main station, in around ten minutes. From here you can connect to the excellent national train network, Comboios de Portugal. For lovely Sintra and the spectacular Palace of Pena, head to Rossio station. For Cascais, you want Cais do Sodré station. If you’re heading north to Porto or south to the Algarve, you’re better off flying there directly.
Bus and coach
The Carris bus network runs regular buses into Lisbon, but its efficiency is very dependent on traffic. More importantly, city buses have baggage restrictions, so they’re a no-go if you’ve gone big on your packing. For onward travel around Portugal and Europe, the ubiquitous Flixbus service connects to almost everywhere.
Taxi and shuttle
Standard taxis are the easiest way to commute between city and airport. You’ll find taxi ranks outside departures and arrivals, but their convenience also makes them popular, so expect queues. Travel times are traffic dependent, but expect anything from 15 to 30 minutes.
Make sure the meter is turned on before you leave and don’t be surprised to be charged extra for luggage. Even so, taxis are cheap compared to other European cities. Skip the airport’s dedicated shuttle service (it’s basically an overpriced taxi you have to prebook online).
Car rental
The golden beaches and rolling hinterlands of Portugal are well worth exploring, and that’s easiest by car. There are lots of rental agencies capitalizing on the travel hub status of the airport, some reasonable, many bad. I’ve tried them all and can say for certain there are few places where paying for a top-end service is more important. Opt for Sixt, Hertz or Europcar.
High season in particular is a nightmare with the budget rental operators (none more so than Goldcar). With parking lots far from the airport, shuttles take around 15 minutes to get there. That, however, doesn’t include queueing.
And with not enough shuttles to handle demand, expect long waits just to get on a shuttle, only to then queue again to collect your car. With parking lots far from the airport, shuttles take around 15 minutes to get there. That, however, doesn’t include queueing. And with not enough shuttles to handle demand, expect long waits just to get on a shuttle, only to then queue again to collect your car.
Navigating the airport
Humberto Delgado has two terminals with very different purposes and passenger experiences. The airport recently surpassed 35 million travelers and isn’t designed to handle such numbers, which makes it often chaotic and stressful.
Terminal 1 is by far the bigger and despite being older, the more modern thanks to expansions and upgrades. It’s home to most airlines including long-haul flights, easyJet, and TAP Air, Portugal’s flag carrier. All arrivals, regardless of airline, are processed at Terminal 1.
The smaller, newer Terminal 2 is exclusively for departures of low-cost carriers including Eurowings, Norwegian, Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air. Built to handle domestic flights before the onslaught of budget carriers changed the game, it has neither the size nor infrastructure to handle the volume of traffic passing through.
If you do have to travel through Terminal 2, try to avoid peak seasons and Fridays to Sundays.
Check in, security and passport control
There are two check-in halls in Terminal 1, the older one for TAP Air’s self check-in desks and another for other airlines. Terminal 2 has limited check-in desks for all of its low-cost carriers. There aren’t enough desks in either and queues are inevitable, with Terminal 2 particularly trying. High season is a zoo and you should do everything you can to avoid it.
If you do have check-in bags, come prepared. Official guidance recommends arriving 90 minutes early for Schengen flights, 120 minutes for non-Schengen European flights, and 180 minutes for intercontinental flights, though you may want extra time during peak periods.
Bring entertainment for the kids. Anything with headphones is particularly useful as the areas can get noisy. While there are landside cafés at Terminal 1, Terminal 2 has shops, cafés and restaurants as well, so you can grab snacks and drinks at either terminal.
Security is typical of any airport not using modern smart scanners. In my experience it’s certainly not as bad as check in, but I’ve waited between 15 and 45 minutes to get through on recent visits.
The big catch is passport control for Non-Schengen flights. Located after duty free and the shopping area, there are nowhere near enough passport desks for the mass of travelers passing through. I’ve seen queues of 100+ people with only two booths open before. Give yourself plenty of time and avoid the last minute rush.
Arrivals and connections
At Humberto Delgado, Terminal 1 handles all arrivals regardless of airline, as well as the majority of departures. If you fly in on a budget carrier that departs from Terminal 2, your plane will still arrive at Terminal 1 like all other flights.
This makes Terminal 1 a bottleneck, particularly if you’re coming from a Non-Schengen destination like the US or UK and are pushed through immigration. If you’re coming from a Schengen destination, you can go straight to baggage collection.
Connecting to another flight? Where possible plan for it to be from Terminal 1. There’s no airside link at all between Terminals 1 and 2, even for connections.
That means if you need to connect from Terminal 1 to a Terminal 2 departure, you’ll need to pass through security and potentially immigration at Terminal 1, take the free shuttle bus to Terminal 2 (which takes about 3 minutes and runs every 12 minutes or so), and then go back through security and immigration to connect.
How long this will take is a lottery, but it’s always time consuming. Terminal 2 in particular is very poorly equipped for the kind of passenger numbers it currently handles and is the major reason for the airport’s poor ratings. If you haven’t booked the connection as part of a single journey with the same airline, there’s no support should you miss your connecting flight.
If you do need to make this multi-terminal transfer, give yourself several hours. As crazy as it sounds, I’d say four to be safe. In such circumstances, my advice is to book an incoming morning flight and outgoing afternoon flight to give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays. With low-cost carriers, flight delays can accumulate throughout the day. If your incoming flight is late, your outgoing flight won’t wait for you.
Shopping and eating airside
Walking airside at Terminal 1 makes you think the airport chose to invest its time and money in amenities rather than facilities. There’s a wealth of shops including a smattering of high end fashion stores and the usual airport staples. By far and away the most interesting shop is Mundo Fantástico da Sardinha Portuguesa, a colorful, madcap store dedicated purely to that most Portuguese of things, the sardine. It’s great for gifts.
There’s a food court that’s mostly fast food and cafés. In fact there are no real restaurants as such, just lots of tapas type bites. My pick would be O Mercado, a pseudo market-come-restaurant that serves decent cod cakes and pastel de nata. Elsewhere there are three cheap but acceptable lounges. The ANA lounge has showers (for an extra fee) and the TAP Premium lounge has a kid’s play area so it’s ideal for families.
Terminal 2 has little in the way of facilities thanks to its diminutive size and lack of space even for passengers (there’s never enough seating). You’ll find duty free, a couple of café bars and a McDonald’s. Make sure your devices are fully charged, as charging points can be limited and in high demand.
This KAYAK-commissioned article is presented as-is, for general informational purposes only, and may not be up-to-date. The opinions contained in the article are original to the author and reflect their authentic experience, which may vary significantly from the experience of others.
